What does Christmas mean for you?

Dr. Fr. Davis George

Pope Francis asked, “What does Christmas mean for you?”  He said, “For me Christmas is hope and tenderness...”  Christmas is celebration of hope and tenderness.  Hope, because we have a Saviour who has come not to condemn the world but to save the world. Hope, because Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. “The word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (Jn 1:14)Hope, because he has told us that he will be with us to the end of days. Tenderness, because he emptied himself and became a tender child. Tenderness, because he showed compassion and love to the most neglected people; welcomed sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes into his kingdom.  He was sensitive to human needs; reached out, touched and healed the broken world. Christmas is God seeking man more than man seeking God. We read in the Bible God seeking Adam and Eve, even after disobeying him; God asked, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9) Christmas has always been about this; contemplating the visit of God to his people. God has visited his people and redeemed.(Lk 1:60)

Who is the richest person you have ever known?  The Average Rich fly first class. The Medium Rich charter a jet. The Super Rich own the jet. The Incredibly Rich own the airline.  But Jesus Christ owns the skies. The Bible says, “He was rich.” It is speaking of what he had before he left heaven to come to earth. (Phil 2:1-11) The Bible says that all the glory of God radiates from him (Heb 1:3). It also says that all things hold together in him (Col 1:17). It also says that by him were all things created (Col 1:16). And before he was born, he was the Mighty God and the Father of Eternity (Is 9:6).

He became poor. Not, He was made poor. That’s what happens to us. We are made poor by circumstances. But he himself, of his own free will, became poor. That’s something we would never do. He voluntarily gave up the riches of heaven for the poverty of earth. He who was richer than any man has ever been; gave it up freely and became poorer than any man has ever been.

 At the first Christmas Word became flesh.  The phrase “became flesh” really means to wrap yourself in flesh. It has the idea of God wrapping himself in human flesh. That’s what happened at Bethlehem. It was God entering the human race in the form of a man.  That is what God did. He didn’t mail a letter or shout from heaven. He did the one thing we could understand. God himself came down and entered the human race. He became poor like us so that forever we would hear him saying, “I love you.”

We wouldn’t have done it that way. We’d schedule a press conference, call the TV stations, hire a press agent, have a parade, call in the dignitaries, sell tickets, make a big deal so all the world could see.   But God’s ways are different, more profound and awesome.  Immanuel—God with us.  Here is the purpose of Christmas. He came so that we who were poor might become rich.  C.S. Lewis said it this way: “The Son of God became a son of man in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God.”  Christmas began in the heart of God; it is complete only when it reaches the hearts of men.    Happy Christmas.